LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 11/2012
Bible Quotation for today/The Living Stone and the Holy
Nation
1 Peter 02/01-10: "Rid yourselves, then, of all evil; no more lying or hypocrisy
or jealousy or insulting language. Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for
the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved. As
the scripture says, You have found out for yourselves how kind the Lord is.
Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by
God as valuable. Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building
the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual
and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. For the scripture says,
I chose a valuable stone, which I am placing as the cornerstone in Zion; and
whoever believes in him will never be disappointed. This stone is of great value
for you that believe; but for those who do not believe: The stone which the
builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. And
another scripture says, This is the stone that will make people stumble, the
rock that will make them fall. They stumbled because they did not believe in the
word; such was God's will for them. But you are the chosen race, the
King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the
wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous
light. At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one
time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy."
Latest analysis,
editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Why Israel must strike/By:
Hagai Segal/March
10/12
Haaretz Editorial /Israel must not bind itself to
Netanyahu's vulgar rhetoric on Iran/March
10/12
Israel must remember U.S. is part of its 'right to
defense'/By Yoel Marcus /March 10/12
Iran: Strange elections with strange results/By Amir
Taheri/March 10/12
Israel, stay out of Syria/By:
Ariela Ringel-Hoffman/March
10/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 10/12
U.S. senator calls for naval blockade of Iran
Iran expected to reject proposal for nuclear fuel swap
Palestinians
fire mobile Grad launchers smuggled from Libya
80 rockets fired at Israel since Friday
Renewed Gaza rocket fire strikes Israel, as escalation in
south continues
Amos Harel / A familiar script in Israel-Gaza escalation
Annan meets Syria's Assad, troops attack city of Idlib
U.S. officials: Syrian military unlikely to turn on Assad
U.S. pressures Russia to support diplomatic measures on
Syria
Syria activists: Assad's forces kill 31 amid continued
clashes
Obama’s projects an Israel visit in July: before or after
an attack on Iran?
Netanyahu: Strike on Iran's nuclear facilities possible
within months
Issacharoff & Harel / The eve-of-war atmosphere in
Washington
Yossi Verter / Both in Israel and the U.S., Peres is loved
and beloved
Israel is only Mideast state safe for Christians, envoy to
U.S. says
Former head of Israeli Mossad,Meir
Dagan: Now is not the time to attack Iran
US, Jordan mulling ways to secure Syrian bio-weapons
IDF strike in Gaza kills leader of Popular Resistance
Committees
Gaza militants fire rockets into Israel after IDF kills
Palestinian leader
Report: Top Syria officers defect to Turkey amid
persisting crackdown
Syrian forces kill 54 ahead of Annan peace mission
Syrian rebels reject Annan's call for dialogue with Assad
Lebanon
Cabinet Calls for Probe into Abuse of Ethiopian Domestic Worker
Army: We Will Apprehend All Who Tamper with Stability Regardless of Their
Affiliations
Jumblat Criticizes Assad’s Reform ‘Myth,’ Warns against Handing over Activists
to Syria
Tens of Thousands Rally in Bahrain Urging Reform
82 Killed as Tens of Thousands Rally across Syria
82 Killed as Tens of Thousands Rally across Syria
Cabinet Tasks Miqati with Drafting Proposal on 2006-2010 Extra-Budgetary
Spending
Deal due on Handing U.S. Prisons to Afghans
Al-Rahi Contacts Saniora
as Maronite Church Praises Mustaqbal Political Document
Mansour Discusses Syrian Developments with Muallem
Nine Individuals Charged with Smuggling Arms to Syria
Fatah al-Islam Inmates Go on Hunger Strike in Roumieh Jail
Syria Demands Lebanon to Hand over Armed Men, Describing them as ‘Outlaws’
U.N. Says Syria Agrees to Joint Humanitarian Assessment Mission
Palestinians fire mobile Grad launchers smuggled from Libya
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 10, 2012/After a short break Saturday morning
from shooting more than 80 missiles against a dozen southern Israeli towns and
villages Friday night and early Saturday, March 9-10, the Palestinian Jihad
Islami resumed firing on Beersheba and the Eshkol region. They also released a
video clip showing them firing Grad multiple rocket launchers mounted on
vehicles on Israeli civilian targets. debkafile: This was solid evidence that
the Iranian-backed Jihad had put into service weapons smuggled in from Libya
five months ago, as debkafile was first to report November 11, 2011: Fifty
Libyan Muslim Brotherhood mercenaries arrived in the Gaza Strip from Tripoli
last month at the wheels of minivans on which were mounted the new Grad multiple
rocket-launchers last seen on the Libyan battlefield in use against Muammar
Qaddafi's army. Western intelligence agents operating in the Gaza Strip who
tried at the time to find out from the Libyan Islamist rebels who was behind the
smuggling operation were blocked by a dense wall of Palestinian Jihad Islamic
operatives. Since then, the Libyans have been training the Palestinian teams in
the use of the multiple rocket systems - undisturbed by any Israeli military
interference.
80 rockets fired at Israel since Friday
Ilana Curiel/Ynetnews
Iron Dome intercepts 25 out of 27 rockets fired at Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon;
IAF kills 12 Islamic Jihad operatives in Gaza strikes. Gantz: IDF to respond
with determination to any attack
Palestinians from northern Gaza fired rockets at Beersheba, Ashdod and Gan Yavne
early Saturday morning as the Color Red alert was sounded across Israel's
southern cities.
The IDF estimates that over 80 rockets have been fired at Israel since Friday,
65 exploded in the south. A Home Front Command official said: "The Command's
instructions have proven to save lives and they should be followed. When an
alarm is sounded or if there is an explosion – enter a safety area." Israelis
are also instructed to avoid large gatherings of more than 500.Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu spoke over the phone with Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin
following the escalation in the south. Netanyahu expressed support and interest
in the well-being of Ashkelon residents suffering from the ongoing rocket
attacks on the city.
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz held a special situation assessment on Saturday
given the recent rocket attacks in the south. Officials decided that the IDF
will respond with determination to any attack on Israel. The officials also
praised the Iron Dome system which successfully managed to intercept rockets
fired at southern communities.
Deputy IDF chief, Southern Command head, an Air Force official, Home Front
Command head, Operational Branch head, IDF spokesman all took part in the
meeting. The Iron Dome has successfully intercepted 25 out of 27 rockets fired
at Beersheba, Ashdod and Ashkelon. The other two rockets exploded in open
fields.
These are the highest success rates for the defense system to date. Gantz
praised the IDF officials in charge of operating the system during the situation
assessment.Beersheba Mayor Ruvik Danilovich addressed the ongoing rocket fire on
Saturday, saying: "This escalation cannot be ignored." He added that he fully
backs the government's decision to green light targeted killings against terror
cell leaders planning a terror attack in Israel.
"These terrorists must understand they bear the responsibility," Danilovich
emphasized. "Even if it causes tensions now, in the long run it will cause
deterrence."
Ashdod reported that the Iron Dome intercepted two rockets. The rocket fire
continued throughout the night as two rockets fired at Beersheba from northern
Gaza. One of the projectiles landed within city limits. No injuries or damage
were reported.
In the early evening hours, the Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted at
least four Grad rockets fired at the southern communities of Ashdod, Gan Yavne
and Kiryat Malachi. The Color Red alert sounded in the Ashdod region immediately
after the long-range rockets were fired, prompting residents to rush into bomb
shelters and secured rooms. At least one rocket landed in an open area in the
city's vicinity.More than 80 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel's
south on Friday, prompting the Air Force to mount several strikes on Gaza terror
cells, killing 12 Islamic Jihad operatives.
IDF kills terror chief
Gaza sources claimed 12 Palestinians have been killed in IDF attacks overnight,
including a commander of the militant group behind the abduction of Gilad Shalit,
an Israeli soldier who was held captive for more than five years and freed in a
prisoner swap for more than 1,000 Palestinians.
The Israeli military said it initially targeted Zuhair al-Qaissi, the commander
of the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committee, a large militant group
closely aligned with Gaza's Hamas rulers. The explosion tore apart al-Qaissi's
blue sedan and killed his son-in-law, Mahmoud Hanini - himself a top PRC field
commander.
Four people were injured in Eshkol Regional Council, including one critical
injury and another mildly injured.
According to the IDF, shortly after midnight, the IAF targeted two terror cells
gearing to fire rockets at Israel, killing two terrorists. Palestinian sources
said at least two people were killed in the strike, near the Palestinian
parliament in central Gaza City.
Neri Brenner, Yoav Zitun, AFP and AP contributed to this report
Why
Israel must strike
Hagai Segal/Ynetnews
Op-ed: Main Shoah lesson is that active anti-Semites must be stopped when
they're small
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the AIPAC conference was a
spectacular and inspiring display. We can even characterize it as the best
speech ever delivered by our PM.
The combination of the words, images, essence and body language was deeply
convincing. Not to mention the level of English, of course. Should the
principles outlined in the speech be realized one of these days, and Netanyahu
will shift from words to actions and from threats to bombings, his AIPAC 2012
address may be included in the list of the 21st Century’s most important
speeches.
As usual with Netanyahu, he linked the Iranian issue to the Auschwitz horror,
yet this time it was necessary. Holocaust imagery is a despicable thing in
domestic arguments between Jews, yet not when we face an external enemy planning
a final solution for us. If in Arafat’s case there was a slight doubt as to
whether he hates Jews or only settlers, in Ahmadinejad’s case there is no doubt.
Iran’s president openly aspires to collectively annihilate us. He is also
vigorously preparing the required nuclear infrastructure to carry out his
wishes.
Or as Netanyahu said this week: What looks like a duck, walks like a duck and
sounds like a duck – is a duck.
Never Again It is possible that Ahmadinejad is less capable than his
spiritual fathers in the Arian Europe and may have trouble implementing his
pans, yet it would be illogical to premise our future on such fragile
operational assumption. If we do it after all, we shall render all our Yad
Vashem rhetoric, memorial ceremonies and March of the Livings in Poland empty of
all substance.
In the distant past we promised ourselves not to forget and not to forgive, yet
a short while later we reconciled with Germany. We referred to it as “The Other
Germany” and fooled ourselves a little. Yet we must not give up the “Never
Again” pledge as well. The main lesson of the Holocaust is that active
anti-Semites must be stopped when they’re still small. We can’t wait for them to
prepare a nuclear Auschwitz for us.
Netanyahu: Strike on Iran's nuclear facilities possible within months
By Jonathan Lis/Haaretz
Prime minister says he prefers diplomatic pressure be used to stop the Iranian
nuclear program and war be avoided. An attack on Iran could take place within a
matter of months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a series of
television interviews on Thursday. "We're not standing with a stopwatch in
hand," he said. "It's not a matter of days or weeks, but also not of years. The
result must be removal of the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran's hands."
Netanyahu gave separate interviews to all three Israeli television stations, the
first he has given since his return from Washington earlier this week. The full
interviews will air on Saturday night, but excerpts were broadcast Thursday. "I
hope there won't be a war at all, and that the pressure on Iran will succeed,"
the prime minister stressed, noting that his preferred choice would be for Iran
to halt its nuclear program and dismantle the uranium enrichment facility
located in an underground site near Qom. "That would make me happiest," he said.
"I think every citizen of Israel would be happy." "Making decisions isn't the
problem; it's making the right decision," Netanyahu added. "If you don't make
the decision and don't succeed in preventing this [an Iranian nuke], to whom
will you explain this - to the historians? To the generations before you, and
the generations that won't come after you?" He also spoke about the departure of
his former bureau chief, Natan Eshel, who was forced to resign over allegations
of harassing a subordinate. "I had a connection with Natan Eshel, a connection
going back many years," he said. "This is very painful for me personally, and
you part ways humanely. "On the other hand, what he did, or what he confessed to
doing ... is very serious. This is a serious, inappropriate thing, and I condemn
it." Netanyahu insisted that he backs the three officials who informed the
attorney general of the suspicions against Eshel: his military secretary, Maj.
Gen. Yohanan Locker; Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser; and the former head of the
National Information Directorate, Yoaz Hendel. "Let there be no doubt: I also
think the men who acted, acted rightly," he said. "They had to go complain about
this." Nevertheless, he added, his criticism of them for not informing him was
justified: "In my opinion, I'm the head of the system, as prime minister, and
they should have told me."
WATCH: Former head of Israeli Mossad: Now is not the time to attack Iran
By Haaretz /Meir Dagan in first American interview says Iran’s regime is
rational, adding: that 'they are considering all the implications of their
actions.' Former head of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, Meir Dagan,
tells CBS that he does not believe now is the time to attack Iran’s nuclear
program, in his first interview to an American media outlet. Dagan tells 60
Minutes’ Lesley Stahl that the regime in Iran is a rational one. When asked
whether Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is rational, Dagan responded that
he was.
“Not exactly our rational, but I think he is rational,” Dagan said. Adding that
though their rationality was different from the Western way of thinking, “they
are considering all the implications of their actions…They will have to pay
dearly…and I think the Iranians at this point in time are…very careful on the
project,” says Dagan. “They are not running…”
Dagan tells CBS he doesn’t think Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear industry
anytime soon, an attack that would have to include “a large number of targets.”
Dagan agrees with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and President Obama that
there is still time to wait before dire actions need to be taken.
Dagan believes that instead of military action the West should concentrate on
instigating regime change in Iran. “It’s our duty to help anyone who likes to
present an open opposition against their regime in Iran,” says Dagan.
When asked by 60 Minutes whether Israel had supported the youth groups that held
protests across Iran after the last round of Iranian elections, Dagan refused to
answer.
Dagan said he trusted the U.S. and President Barack Obama’s resolve to stop the
Iranian nuclear program. President Obama said “the military option is on the
table and he is not going to let Iran become a nuclear state and from my
experience, I usually trust the president of the U.S,” he says.
“The issue of Iran armed with a nuclear capability is not an Israeli problem;
it’s an international problem.”
During the interview Stahl suggested that it seemed he was advocating Israel
wait and have the U.S. attack Iran’s nuclear sites. Dagan replied: “If I prefer
that someone will do it, I always prefer that Americans will do it,” he says.
The 60 Minutes interview will air on CBS on Sunday.
Israel must remember U.S. is part of its 'right to defense'
By Yoel Marcus /Haaretz
Netanyahu is puffing up his chest with his own rhetoric. That's a common
syndrome among our friends on the right - to strike without considering the
consequences. Had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu been a cub reporter who
wanted to impress the new editor with his statement "If it looks like a duck, if
it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck ... it's a duck ... but this duck
is a nuclear duck," this brilliant cliche would have been thrown in the garbage
with the reprimand: "too banal." But when it's said at an AIPAC convention, in
Bibi's basso-profundo voice, it rouses a standing ovation.
While he was speaking, only the TV viewers could notice that a bald spot was
beginning to show through his graying hair. Yes, time marches on. It's hard to
believe that on his way to his third term as prime minister and during Israel's
seventh decade of existence, Bibi mentions the Holocaust as a basis for his
government's policy, to win applause. What do our cynics say? "There's no
business like Shoah business," especially when the United States is gearing up
for presidential elections.
Doesn't Bibi understand that when he talks about the Holocaust in contemporary
terms he encourages the younger generation to flee the country? In Bibi's
equation, which made headlines in Haaretz this week - that he prefers missiles
on Tel Aviv to nukes in Iran - it's not clear whom he's threatening: Iran or the
residents of Tel Aviv. And as if Bibi's trips and speeches in Washington weren't
enough, who jumps in but Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, demanding that the
prime minister give Iran an ultimatum. He even spelled out a precise schedule.
What would Bibi do without him?
Security experts say the government is playing with fire. Anyone who thinks we
can solve the Iranian threat by ourselves is mistaken and misleading others.
What we need to neutralize the threat entirely - including protecting our home
front against a missile barrage - is the action of a great power. Samson's last
words, "Let me die with the Philistines," is not what Israelis have in mind
during these times of war over the price of a Pesek Zman candy bar.
Bibi's success lies mainly in bringing the Iranian threat to international
awareness. The difference between the impatient people and the reality is that
it always takes time to digest the threat and take action against it. U.S.
President Barack Obama is not thinking only about the elections for a second
term. You can understand a president who is trying to heal America, which has
been bloodied in several wars, by using diplomacy on the Iran issue.
Bibi is puffing up his chest with his own rhetoric. That's a common syndrome
among our friends on the right - to strike without considering the consequences.
Bibi's threats that if you don't act we'll act on our own remind me of
Hershele's ultimatum in the famous folktale - that if they didn't give him
supper he'd do what his father did. After acquiescing to his demand, they asked
him what he had planned to do if his demand hadn't been met. His reply: "I would
have gone to bed hungry."
But joking aside, someone very familiar with our backyard believes that a prime
minister who is afraid of his wife won't dare in the end push the button. And
that's a good thing. According to a New York Times editorial this week,
"President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel share
responsibility for the strains in their relationship. But there should be no
doubt about Mr. Obama's commitment to Israel's security. When he warns that an
Israeli attack on Iran could backfire, and that 'there is still a window' for
diplomacy, he is speaking for American and Israeli interests."
According to the Times, "This would not be a 'surgical' strike like the Israeli
attack in 1981 that destroyed Iraq's Osirak reactor, or the 2007 Israeli strike
on an unfinished reactor in Syria." The paper adds that "even a sustained
Israeli air campaign would set back the program by only a few years, drive it
further underground and possibly unleash a wider war." Not to mention the severe
damage the civilian front might suffer.
The Times concludes that the U.S. military "is far more capable of doing serious
damage to Iran's facilities than the Israeli military," and that "Mr. Obama is
right that military action should only be the last resort."
Very good. Bibi constantly says Israel has a right to defend itself. In that
case, let's not forget that our close ties with the United States and its
commitment are an important part of our deterrence. If Bibi thinks he's the one
who got the United States on our side, let him think so. Meanwhile, the wise man
will advise him: You did your part. Now sit down and keep quiet.
Israel must not bind itself to Netanyahu's vulgar rhetoric
on Iran
Haaretz Editorial
The spine-chilling fear is that one day, all of us will discover too late that
we have become hostages to his Churchillian speech, but without a Churchillian
victory. Anyone who cares about Israel's future could not help but feel a chill
upon hearing Benjamin Netanyahu's recent speech at the AIPAC conference - if not
because of the gravity of the existential threat it described, then because of
its sheer vulgarity and bad taste. The prime minister, as if he were no more
than a surfer leaving feedback on a website, did not hesitate to crassly compare
Israel today to the situation of European Jewry during the Holocaust. And to
spice up his speech with one of those visual gimmicks he so loves, he even
pulled out a photostat of correspondence in order to imply a comparison between
U.S. President Barack Obama's cautious approach toward attacking Iran and
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's refusal to bomb the rail lines to Auschwitz.
Netanyahu sometimes seems like he is holding a debating competition with
himself. Every speech is the "speech of his life" and must overshadow its
predecessor, while afterward, as if they were rehashing a sporting event, he and
his aides gleefully count the number of standing ovations, especially from his
American listeners. And in order to wring an ovation from the end of every
sentence, it seems as if all means are legitimate: kitsch and death, threats and
vows, warnings and rebukes of the entire world.
This time, too, it's not quite clear what he wanted to obtain via this inane
rhetoric - a combination of wretchedness and megalomania - aside from applause.
Did he want pity? To prick the conscience of the world? To terrify himself, or
perhaps to inflame the Churchillian fantasy in which he lives? But one thing is
clear: Aside from the fact that he deepened our feelings of victimhood, insulted
the American president and narrowed the options for diplomacy, Netanyahu did not
improve Israel's situation one jot by this speech, just as he hasn't by any of
his others.
Netanyahu isn't the first Israeli prime minister, especially from the right, to
harp on the trauma of the Holocaust. But in contrast to Menachem Begin and Ariel
Sharon, who at the moment of truth also displayed diplomatic and leadership
abilities, Netanyahu was and remains essentially a PR man: someone for whom
words and rhetoric replace reality. The spine-chilling fear is that one day, all
of us - himself included, despite his caution and hesitation - will discover too
late that we have become hostages to his Churchillian speech, but without a
Churchillian victory.
Obama’s projects an Israel visit in July: before or after
an attack on Iran?
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis March 9, 2012/Forward planning must have gone into
setting up the CBS 60 Minutes interview with Israel’s leading voice against an
attack on Iran’s nuclear sites directly after he week US President Barack Obama
spent sparring with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Washington on
this very issue. In his interview with Lesley Stahl airing at prime time Sunday,
March 11, the former Mossad spy Chief Meir Dagan will give President Obama
timely support for his contention that a window is still open for a diplomatic
resolution of the issue - against the prime minister’s assertion “there is not
much time left.”
Wednesday, the US President said senior Israeli intelligence officers agreed
with him and were warning against a unilateral Israel strike. Although he is
retired and pretty much a lone voice in Israel’s intelligence community, Dagan
was found to fit the bill.
But even the interviewer was taken aback when the ex-Mossad chief said: “The
regime in Iran is a very rational one.” And President Ahmadinejad (who has
called for Israel’s annihilation)? “The answer is yes, said Dagan, “but not
exactly our rational, but I think he is rational.”
He may have a point from the special perspective of an intelligence mastermind
who needs to get his head around the thinking of his antagonist in order to
fight him. By delving into an enemy’s personal, national and religious
rationale, he may also discover his weak spots. Judged by this cold rule of
thumb, Bashar Assad might also be deemed rational when he massacres his people
to stay in power – although Dagan doesn’t go that far.
Neither does he apply his reasoning to Israel’s security interests.
If he did, he would have to challenge the premise that the heads of the Islamic
regime in Tehran are rational enough to engage in purposeful negotiations for
abandoning their nuclear ambitions, an assumption which is the crux of Obama’s
Iran policy.
The impact of the Dagan interview will soon fade as one more voice blending in
the jangling chorus of point and counterpoint on Iran which is orchestrated by
the Obama administration.
Tuesday, March 6, after meeting Netanyahu, Obama said Iran’s nuclear program was
not an immediate threat and reproved Republican presidential contenders for
being irresponsibly casual in urging military action against the Islamic
Republic.
Although his targets were domestic and political, he won plaudits from an
unexpected quarter. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei praised US
President Barack Obama for “damping down talk of war against Tehran” over its
nuclear drive. “This talk is good talk and shows an exit from illusion,” he told
a group of clerics.
In apparent contradiction of the US president’s repeated call for more time for
sanctions to work, his Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday, March 8,
that the Pentagon was “absolutely” preparing military options for Iran and
stressed the US would outperform Israel: "If they (Israel) decided to do it,
there's no question that it would have an impact, but I think it's also clear
that if the United States did it we would have a hell of a bigger impact,"
Panetta told the National Journal.
The next minute, his words were played down by White House Press Secretary Jay
Carney who said it was only “a matter of course” for the Pentagon to be
preparing "contingency" plans.
On his return home Thursday, Netanyahu did not deny the necessity of preempting
a nuclear Iran. When asked when an attack would take place, he said it would not
be in weeks or months – and certainly not in years. “If Israel fails to act,
there may be no future generations around to hear why.” He was saying, in other
words, that this generation faces a nuclear threat of annihilation.
Some reputable nuclear experts contend that the US-Israeli argument is academic
because they have missed the boat and it is already too late to prevent Iran
acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The head of the U.N. agency nuclear agency Yukiya Amano helps keep the seesaw
swinging back and forth. Thursday night, “diplomats” at IAEA headquarters in
Vienna reported that spy satellite images had shown trucks and earth-moving
vehicles cleaning up radioactive traces at the Iranian military facility of
Parchin which came from tests of a small neutron trigger used to set up a
nuclear explosion.
If the agency already has this evidence, why does Amano insist on sending
inspectors to visit the site? His demand only gives Tehran more leeway for
haggling and manipulation.
Is there any point to the outflow of conflicting verbiage and cross signals from
Washington? Is it orchestrated? And is it an attempt to bamboozle friends or
enemies?
debkafile’s analysts draw three conclusions from this tower of Babel:
1. Prime Minister Netanyahu has given President Obama breathing-space for a
decision on the timing of an attack Iran.
2. As the latest DEBKA-Net-Weekly issue disclosed exclusively this Friday, Obama
wants to meet Netanyahu again in July and is considering a trip to Israel to be
combined with visits to other Middle East capitals. He reckons the trip will
give his reelection campaign a major boost.
It cannot be said now if this journey will take place before or after an attack
on Iran and whether it will be an American, an Israeli or a combined operation.
3. Iran is meanwhile forging ahead with the production of highly-enriched
uranium with the help of advanced centrifuges and with the assembly of nuclear
weapon components - undeterred by sanctions or diplomatic pressure. What could
be more rational than taking advantage of “the window for diplomacy” so freely
offered?
Iran: Strange elections with strange results
By Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat
Imagine a game in which you fix the rules, choose the players, hold a veto over
the results and, yet, go on to cheat.
This is what happened last Friday with the ninth set of legislative elections in
the Islamic Republic in Iran.
As always, the regime decided who was allowed to stand and who was not. Then,
the task of running the exercise was given to the Ministry of the Interior
rather than an independent election commission as is the norm all over the
world. No need to say, the results could be changed or canceled by the Council
of the Custodians, the mullah-dominated organ of the regime.
So, with such a configuration, why cheat?
The answer is that “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei wanted a show that would give
him two things. First, he wanted a large turnout so that he could claim that
Iranians have moved beyond the disputed presidential election of 2009. Next, he
wanted a majority for those who support his decision to transform the Islamic
Republic into an imamate.
The official narrative is that Khamenei has succeeded on both scores. The claim
is that almost 64 percent of those eligible actually went to the polls and that
Khamenei’s most partisan supporters won at least 200 of the 290 seats in the
Islamic Majlis, the regime’s fake parliament.
However, a glance at the regime’s own data would refute both claims.
Let’s start with the turnout. Judging by age structures, the regime’s census
data puts the number of those eligible to vote at over 52 million. However, the
figure advanced by the Interior Ministry was 45.2 million. This means that some
seven million eligible voters have been left out of the statistics from the
start.
Even then, the picture is not as rosy as Khamenei claims.
Last Friday’s turnout was lower than that of three of the eight previous
elections, especially in urban areas. In Tehran, for example, according to
official figures, 5,460,000 people were eligible to vote, but only 2,119,689
voted. In Isfahan, Iran’s second largest city, turnout was around 32 percent.
The largest turnouts were announced for remote areas with no media presence. In
Boyer Ahmad and Kohkiluyeh, the smallest of the provinces, almost 90 percent of
those eligible to vote supposedly did so. In Charmahal-Bakhtiari and Elam, two
other small provinces, the turnout was put at over 86 percent.
Turnout figures were marked up in other ways. The Interior Ministry’s website
shows turnouts of between 90 and 128 percent in 127 of the 368 constituencies.
This means that in some places the number of those who voted was higher than
that of those eligible to vote. (Coincidentally, in Russia’s presidential
election, Vladimir Putin is supposed to have won 90 per cent of the votes in
Chechnya! Earlier, in Syria Bashar al-Assad scored an 86 percent win in his
referendum!).
There was even an element of political vengeance in the way figures were
massaged. In Shabestar, the hometown of Mir-Hussein Mussavi, the “Green
Movement” leader who is under house arrest, such massaging produced an absurdly
high turnout. The intended message was clear: Mussavi is repudiated even in his
native town!
Election “fixers” also made sure that the few so-called reformist figures
allowed as candidates suffered a dose of humiliation.
There is no logical reason for an 11 per cent rise in the turnout compared to
the two previous elections for the Majlis when turnout was put at slightly
higher than 50 per cent. The one-week campaign was one of the blandest in
memory. And with better known figures in various factions, including those of
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, not
allowed to stand there was even less heat to attract the voters.
The regime has made much of the fact that former Presidents Rafsanjani and
Muhammad Khatami did vote in the end. However, Rafsanjani, a clever fox as
always, balanced his voting by telling TV audiences that he hoped “this time the
real votes would be announced”, a reference to the disputed presidential
election of 2009. For his part, Khatami issued a statement explaining why he had
voted. In it he made no mention of Khamenei or Walayat al-Faqih or even Islam.
Instead, he tried to cast himself as the custodian of the promises of the 1979
revolution.
Turnout aside, the results do not indicate the massive endorsement that Khamenei
had hoped for his imamate claim.
Candidates most closely associated with Khamenei’s cult of personality
identified themselves by referring to Walayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the
Jurists) or variations on that theme. Of the 200 seats declared by the time this
column was composed, Khamenei’s partisans had won almost half. The so-called
“reformists’ may well end up with 40 seats while Ahmadinejad’s partisans, hiding
their identity as much as possible, could win a further 50 seats.
That would leave around 100 seats which, if preliminary analyses are correct,
would go to three types of candidates.
First, there are the weathervanes that, as in any other political system, would
side with whichever faction that appears to be winning. Next, there are
individual politicians with strong personal bases, especially in parts of the
country where ethnic minorities live. Finally, we could identify at least a
dozen candidates representing the military and security apparatus and its
business concerns.
The latest electoral exercise, a compliment that vice pays more than virtue,
does not, indeed could not, change the fundamentals of a system paralysed by its
contradictions. The Khomeinist establishment remains divided among factions
sharpening their knives against one another, waiting for the first opportunity
to stab rivals.
Israel, stay out of Syria
Ariela Ringel-Hoffman/Ynetnews
Op-ed: Historical experience has shown us that intervening in foreign conflicts
is unwise
It always sounds good, looks good in photos, offers strong justification, and
mostly enjoys the broad support of progressive camps worldwide. However, beyond
the promising façade – which at times gives rise to massive, international
support for people who rebel against an existing dictatorship – we sometimes see
the emergence of a graver reality than the one that prevailed during the
previous regime.
One need not go back too much in history or travel far geographically in order
to find evidence of the above. If one does not wish to view the Arab Spring as
evidence and proof, one can look into the international conduct in Afghanistan,
which is one of the most deeply researched examples in matters pertaining to
international affairs.
The fear of radical Islamization of the country prompted a Soviet invasion in
the late 1970s. The Soviet invasion, just like a conditioned reflex, prompted
American intervention. And so, while the Russians fought the mujahidin, the
Americans supported the latter with money, arms and training.
No information about rebels
This war continued until the late 1980s, and ended shortly after the withdrawal
of Soviet troops. Following an inevitable civil war, which ended in 1995, power
was taken by the Taliban, the mujahidin’s political platform (which initially
enjoyed the support of international liberalism, which sympathized with what
started as a student movement against corruption.)
However, one of the Taliban’s first acts was the murderous repression of women:
A ban on studying, stoning as the preferred punishment, and pulling out the
nails of women who dared use nail polish. There is no need to elaborate about
what came later.
And so, the above of course says nothing about what can be expected if and when
the Syrian rebels win. However, this example does serve to show us that as we do
not know enough about the leaders of this popular protest and the message they
bear – aside from the lovely demand to remove Bashar Assad – the State of Israel
would do well to first resolve its own major problems, including the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, before interfering in Syria.
Nonetheless, Israel should offer – and mean it – any possible help to refugees
fleeing Syria, by providing a shelter, food and medical assistance. Moreover,
there should be no link between one kind of assistance and the other.
US, Jordan mulling ways to secure Syrian bio-weapons
Yitzhak Benhorin/Ynetnews
Washington, Amman are reportedly devising ways to keep Damascus' chemical,
biological weapons caches out of terror groups' hand should Assad fall
WASHINGTON – The United States and Jordan are reportedly discussing ways to
secure what is believed to be Syria's substantial stockpile of chemical and
biological weapons, in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of
Hezbollah or al-Qaeda, should Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime come to its
end. Syria is believed to have one of the world's largest arsenals of nerve
agents, including Sarin, cyanide, and mustard gas; and is one of only seven
nations not to sign the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). According to a
Friday report in the Wall Street Journal, the two nations' militaries are
developing joint contingencies in wake of mounting concerns that – should Assad
be toppled – various terror groups will try to acquire the country's WMDs.
According to the report, one plan may see Jordan's Special Forces, "Acting as
part of any broader Arab League peacekeeping mission, go into Syria to secure
nearly a dozen sites thought to contain weapons." Several top-ranking Jordanian
defense officials visited the Pentagon in February, to discuss the threat posed
by Syrian weapons of mass destruction. According to Pentagon sources quoted in
the report, Washington and Amman "do not foresee unilateral commando raids
inside Syria." Locating and securing weapon sites will, however, remain a key
part of any peacekeeping mission in the country.
The threat posed by Syria's WMD caches has become one of the most pressing
issues for the West vis-à-vis Damascus. US experts on Syria's weapons program
say that Damascus is storing its nonconventional weapons in nearly a dozen
sites, largely in northern and central Syria. Some of these sites are in cities
currently racked by violence, such as Hama and Homs
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly conveyed his concerns over
Syria's WMDs to US President Barack Obama in their meeting earlier in the week.
US officials believe a UN Security Council resolution allowing outside
intervention by Western powers in Syria remains impossible, saying that the Arab
League would have a better chance at broker a peaceful diplomatic solution to
the dire situation in Syria.
Syrian forces kill 54 ahead of Annan peace mission
AMMAN, (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least 54 people on Friday as they
sought to quell demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad before a peace
mission by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, opposition activists said. Tank
rounds and mortar bombs crashed into opposition districts in the rebellious
central city of Homs, killing 17 people, activists said, while 24 were killed in
the northern province of Idlib and more deaths were reported elsewhere. "Thirty
tanks entered my neighborhood at seven this morning and they are using their
cannons to fire on houses," said Karam Abu Rabea, a resident in Homs's Karm al-Zeitoun
neighborhood.
One focus of demonstrations was the anniversary of Kurdish unrest in Syria in
2004 when about 30 people were killed.
Many thousands of Kurds demonstrated in northeastern cities, YouTube footage
showed, some carrying banners that read "Save the Syrian people". Other clips
showed hundreds of protesters in the Assali district of Damascus, burning
posters of Assad's father Hafez al-Assad and chanting "God damn your soul,
Hafez".
Syria's state news agency SANA reported big pro-Assad demonstrations in Damascus
and Hassaka in the northeast.
Tight media restrictions imposed by authorities make it hard to assess
conflicting accounts of events on the ground.
Street protests have swelled every Friday after Muslim prayers since the anti-Assad
revolt erupted a year ago, despite violent repression by the military and
loyalist militias.
Decisive victory has eluded both sides in an increasingly bloody struggle that
appears to be sliding into civil war.
AID ACCESS
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who visited Homs this week, said Assad's
government had agreed to join U.N. agencies in a "limited assessment" of
civilian needs in Syria, but had not met her request for unhindered access for
aid groups.
Syrian officials had asked for more time, she told a news conference in Ankara
after visiting Syrian refugees arriving in growing numbers in border camps in
Turkey.
Amos said she was "devastated" at the scenes of destruction she saw in Homs and
that she wanted to know the fate of civilians who had lived in the city's Baba
Amr district, which rebel fighters left on March 1 after a 26-day siege.
Activists in the city said Amos's visit had changed nothing. "We want to stop
the killing and to eat," said Waleed Fares, speaking from Khalidiya district in
Homs.
The United Nations estimates at least 25,000 refugees have fled Syria in the
past year, said Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency.
The U.N. figures were based mainly on refugees who have registered with the
UNHCR. Many others have fled to neighboring countries without registering.
Edwards said significant numbers of Syrians are also thought to be displaced
within the country. Annan, who begins his peace mission in Damascus on Saturday,
has called for a negotiated political solution, but dissidents say there is no
room for dialogue amid Assad's crackdown.
Rifts among big powers have blocked any U.N. action to resolve the crisis, with
China and Russia firmly opposing any measure that might lead to Libya-style
military intervention.
China, which dispatched an envoy to Syria this week, said on Friday it would
send an assistant foreign minister to the Middle East and to France to discuss a
way forward.
Beijing urged Annan to "push for all sides in Syria to end their violence and
start the process of peace talks".
Russia, an old ally of Damascus and its main arms supplier, has defended Assad
against his Western and Arab critics, twice joining China in vetoing U.N.
resolutions on Syria.
"We shall not support any resolution that gives any basis for the use of force
against Syria," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov tweeted late on
Thursday.
Western powers have shied away from any such action. "The option of any military
intervention is not on the table," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in
Morocco on Friday.
France's Foreign Ministry also said Paris would not accept any U.N. Security
Council resolution which would assign responsibility for the violence in Syria
equally between the Syrian government and the opposition.
"There is no equivalence between the savage repression that Bashar al-Assad's
clan has perpetuated for months and the legitimate desire of the Syrian people
for the respect of their rights," said ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. A
Russian diplomat said Assad was battling al Qaeda-backed "terrorists" including
at least 15,000 foreign fighters who would seize cities if government troops
withdrew.
The Syrian opposition denies any al Qaeda role in a popular uprising against
nearly five decades of Baathist rule.
Moscow could play a vital role in any diplomatic effort to ease Assad from power
and spare Syria further bloodletting.
"If (Annan) can persuade Russia to back a transitional plan, the regime would be
confronted with the choice of either agreeing to negotiate in good faith or
facing near-total isolation through loss of a key ally," the Brussels-based
International Crisis Group said in a paper this week.
Syrian security forces have killed well over 7,500 people since the anti-Assad
uprising began a year ago, according to a U.N. estimate. The government said in
December that "armed terrorists" had killed more than 2,000 soldiers and police.